Strategically Ryan was a pretty good choice. He'll bring out the brain-dead base, and uninformed moderates will be wooed by his amiable qualities. By all accounts, the Wisconsin congressman is well liked by his colleagues on both sides of that contentious aisle. Also he is the youngest VP nominee since Dwight Eisenhower chose an obscure, thirty-nine year old congressman from California named Dick Nixon as his running mate in 1952. Ryan was born on January 29, 1970 - exactly twenty-five days after the Beatles made their last recording (George Harrison's "I Me Mine"). This fact alone makes me feel just a tad older than I felt yesterday. I'm dealing with it.

Four years ago I was telling everyone who would listen that 2008 would be the most consequential election in history. What a difference four years makes, huh? We've been offered this lesson over and over again: right wing form of governance DOES NOT WORK - PERIOD. The years after all of these "horrible" New Deal programs were "forced" on decent, hard working Americans also saw the greatest economy in the history of the universe. The Romney/Ryan vision is a recipe for catastrophe. Are we really going to be foolish enough to go down this road again?